Nevada Is the New Delaware

As is well-known, Delaware has carved out a niche for itself as a corporation-friendly haven. By a wide margin, more U.S. public companies are registered in Delaware than any other state or jurisdiction.  Delaware claims about four times as many registrants as the state that currently ranks second, the great state of Nevada.

Photo by Kimble Young. Some rights reserved.

But to judge by this year’s crop of IPO registrations, Nevada is closing the gap.  Of the 23 IPO registrations so far this year, 8 have been filed by Nevada-incorporated companies — compared to only 3 for Delaware.  That number is especially impressive when you consider that it represents over half of the 15 IPO registrations filed by U.S. companies via the S-1 registration statement.

Nevada has made no progress, however, in challenging Delaware’s claim on the title of “First State.”